Missile-firing weapon



H. L. LAWRENCE MISSILE June 2, 1970 -FIRING WEAPON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1967 III mm w mm mwmwm INVENTOR. HOWAR D L. LAW RENCE W, 611mm ATTORNEYS June 2, 1970 H. LAWRENCE MISSILE-FIRING WEAPON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24. 1967 INVENTOR. H WARD L. LAWRENCE M mnm ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,515,113 MISSILE-FIRING WEAPON Howard L. Lawrence, 9816 E. 56th St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46236 Filed May 24, 1967, Ser. No. 641,038 Int. Cl. F41b 15/00, /00

US. Cl. 124-27 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A missile-firing weapon comprising an elongated frame, guide means carried by the frame and arranged to support a missile for movement therealong, a pair of torsional springs carried by said frame and a lever associated with each of said springs, each spring having a first arm and a second arm. A flexible strand is connected between the first arms of the two springs and is adapted to be retracted for cooperative engagement with 'a missile, without significantly loading said springs. Each such lever is significantly longer than the first arm of its associated spring and is operatively connected to the second arm of its associated spring so that, after said strand has been so retracted, the levers may be individually manipulated to load said springs quite heavily so that, when the energy in the springs is released, the missile is hurled along the guide means. In a preferred embodiment, an arrow-type missile and a slugtype missile may be fired simultaneously.

The present invention relates generally to missile-firing weapons, and more particularly to the provision of a weapon which is arranged to fire either a slug-type missile or an arrow-type missile or to fire an arrow-type missile and a slug-type missile simultaneously. The weapon of the present invention utilizes the energy stored in torsional springs to hurl a missile along a guide means in much the same manner as in a crossbow. It will be noted, however, that the energy storage means utilized in the weapon of the present invention comprises a pair of oppositely disposed, torsional springs, each of which is loaded, after the weapon is cocked, by a lever arranged to pivot substantially about the axis of the torsion-a1 spring.

'Prior art weapons of the spring-type herein disclosed have several disadvantages, the main disadvantage being that the weapon is extremely hard to cock, especially if a relatively large amount of energy is to be stored in the springs. Another disadvantage of prior art spring-type weapons is that, generally, the weapons are rather bulky and difficult to carry through underbrush or to use under water. Still another disadvantage of such prior art weapons is that they are not easily adapted to fire a variety of missiles.

The weapon of the present invention, which is arranged to fire a variety of missiles, including arrow-type missiles and slug-type missiles, is very compact and easy to use and, yet, may be very powerful. In fact, a weapon which is constructed in accordance with the present disclosure and which is approximately two feet long and one foot wide is capable of hurling an arrow more than three hundred yards. Obviously, such a weapon is very eifective for use in hunting deer and other such animals.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide -a missile-firing weapon which is very compact, easy to use, durable, powerful and versatile.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a weapon comprising a pair of torsion springs arranged to store energy which is released to hurl a missile.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a weapon which is capable of firing a slug-type missile and an arrow-type missile selectively or simultaneously.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. For the accomplishment of the above and related ob- Jects, the present invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the weapon of the present invention showing an arrow and a slug arranged to be hurled from the weapon by energy stored in a pair of torsional springs;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the weapon shown in FIG. 1 with the arrow removed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, top view showing the action of the levers which are utilized to store energy in the torsional springs;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 4-4 and showing the tube which guidingly receives the slug and the slide element which is received in the tube and which drivingly engages both the slug and the arrow;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken from FIG. 2 generally along the line 55 and showing means for releasably latching the slide element of FIG. 4 in a cocked position; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 6-6 and showing a preferred means for preventing lateral movement of the arrow shown in FIG. 1.

The weapon of the present invention, indicated generally by the reference number 10, comprises an elongated frame 12 which, in the illustrative embodiment, is a tubular member having a straight barrel portion 14 and a stock portion 16'. The frame 12 may be made out of steel tubing which is approximately one inch in diameter and which is bent as indicated by the reference number 18 to form the intersection between the barrel portion 14 and the stock portion 16. A shoulder rest 20 is welded to the rear end of the stock portion 16 as indicated at 22.

A tube 24 having a longitudinally extending slot 26 is mounted above the barrel portion 14 of the frame 12 by a pair of brackets 28 and 30, the bracket 28 being secured to the frame 12 by a roll pin 32 which extends through the bracket 28 and the frame 12 and the bracket 30 being secured to the frame '12 by a roll pin 34 which extends through the bracket 30 and the frame 12. The

rear end of the tube 24 is secured to the bracket 28 by another roll pin 36 which extends through the bracket 28 and the tube 24. The tube 24 is held tightly in an opening 38 in the bracket 30 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. In a preferred embodiment, the slot 26 extends to and through the forward end of the tube 24 and the bracket 30 has a corresponding slot 40 (FIG. 2) located just above the slot 26. The tube 24 corresponds to the barrel of a gun except that the longitudinally extending slot 26 is provided for reasons which will become apparent as this description progresses.

The tube 24 is provided as a guide which receives a slide element 42 having a flange portion 44 which is slidably received in the slot 26. The slide element 42 is proportioned and arranged drivingly to engage a missile and to hurl the missile from the weapon 10 when the slide element is hurled from its cocked position at the rear end of the tube 24, which position is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, toward the forward end of the tube 24. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the portion of the slide element 42 which is received in the tube 24 drivingly en- Patented June 2, 1970 gages a missile, such as the illustrated slug 48, and the flange portion 44 is provided with a tab 50 which drivingly engages the rear end of an arrow-type missile, such as the illustrated arrow 52.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the arrow 52 is supported at its forward end in a trough 54 formed in the bracket 30 and at its rear end by the tab 50 which extends into the conventional hollow of a tubular aluminum arrow. It will also be seen that one of the three conventional vanes or fins 56 of the arrow 52 extends downwardly through the slot 26 into the tube 24. It will be apparent, therefore, that the vane 56 which extends down into the tube 24 moves along the slot 26 and through the slot 40 when the arrow 52 is hurled from the weapon 10.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a member 58 having a U-shaped portion 60 arranged to receive and engage frictionally the forward end of the arrow 52 is pivotally mounted on the frame about the axis indicated by the reference number 62. The member 58, which is preferably fabricated from a rubber or plastic-like material, is constructed so that the forward end of the arrow 52 is frictionally engaged and so that, when the arrow is hurled from the weapon, the member will pivot forwardly in the direction of the arrow 64 to release the arrow 52. One purpose of the member 58 is to permit a hunter to carry the weapon with an arrow 52 mounted thereon as shown in FIG. 1 through underbrush without fear that the arrow will fall or will be knocked from its position. It will be apparent that the. first movement of the arrow '52 away from the weapon 10 will pivot the member 58 and that very little energy will be required to release the arrow 52 from the member 58.

A trigger mechanism is provided for releasably latching the slide element 42 in its cocked position at the rear end of the tube 24. The illustrative trigger mechanism Ct mprises a lever, indicated generally by the reference number 66, fulcrumed on the frame 12 by the shaft 68, one end 70 of the lever 66 being arranged to extend up through a slot 72 in the frame 12 and a slot 74 in the bottom of the tube 2A to restrain the slide element 42 against movement in the direction of the arrow 76. (See FIG. 5.) As seen in FIG. 5, the end 70 of the lever 66 may engage and restrain the slug 48, thereby to restrain the slide element 42. Of course, the end 70 of the lever 66 may simply engage the slide element 42 if a slug 48 is not used.

The lever 66 is formed with a downwardlyextending portion 78 which extends through a slot 80 in the frame 12, a laterally extending portion 82, an upwardly extending portion 84 and a portion 86 which is curved over the top of the frame 12. Thus, when the curved portion 86 of the lever 66 is held downwardly on the top of the frame 12, the end 70 of the lever 66 extends up wardly into the tube 24 to restrain the slide element 42 against movement from its cocked position. The curved portion 86 is held downwardly against the top of the frame 12 by a trigger lever 88 which is fulcrumed for movement about a shaft 90 in the direction of the arrow 92 in FIG. 1. The trigger lever 88 extends upwardly through a slot 94 in the, top of the frame 12 and downwardly through a similar slot, not shown, in the bottom of the frame 12. The upper portion of the trigger lever 88, i.e., the portion which extends above frame 12, is notched as indicated at the reference number 96 to receive the curved portion 86. The lower portion 98 of the trigger lever 88, which portion extends downwardly from the bottom of the frame 12, provides a means for manually pivoting the trigger lever 88 in the direction of the arrow 92 thereby releasing the lever 66 to permit the slide element 42 to move forward.

The force exerted upon the end 70 of the lever 66 urges the lever 66 about the axis of the shaft 68 so that the force exerted by the curved portion 86 against the trigger lever 88 is applied in the direction of the arrow 100, the arrow 100 being curved about the axis of the shaft 68. Referring specifically to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the force exerted by the curved portion 86 on the notch 96 of the trigger lever 88 is directed substantially through the axis of the shaft 90 so that the trigger lever 88 is not pivoted about the axis of the shaft 90 as a result of the force applied by the curved portion 86. Of course, when the trigger lever 88 is manually pivoted in the direction of the arrow 92, the curved portion 86 is released so that the lever 66 may pivot about the axis of the shaft 68 to release the slide element 42.

As will be apparent from the following description of the propelling means for the slide element 42, when the curved portion 86 of the lever 66 is released, the end 70 of the lever 66 will be pivoted in the direction of the arrow 102 (FIG. 5) with a considerable force. Thus, it is desirable to provide a block 104 of resilient material within the frame 12 and in the path of said lever end to absorb the rotational energy of the end 70.

A trigger guard and handle 106 is secured to the frame 12 by means such as the screws 108.

The slide element 42 is driven from its cocked position at the rear end of the tube 24 by energy which is stored in a pair of torsional springs, indicated generally by the reference numbers 110 and 112, the torsional spring 110 being arranged on one side of the frame 12 and the torsional spring 112 being arranged on the opposite side of the fname 12. The springs 110 and 112 are carried by arms 114 and 116, respectively, which extend laterally outwardly from the frame 12, the arms being rigidly connected to the frame 12.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the arms 114 and 116 are tubular steel members welded to the frame 12, the outermost ends of the arms being flat as indicated by the reference number 118 'to provide mounting flanges for the springs 110 and 112. A stub shaft 120 is anchored in the outermost end of the arm 114 and an identical stub shaft 122 is anchored in the outermost end of the arm 116, the stub shafts 120 and 122 preferably being perpendicular to the flattened ends 118 of the arms 114 and 116. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the stub shaft 120 extends above and below the arm 114.

A lever 124 is pivotally mounted on the stub shaft 120 and a similar lever 126 is pivotally mounted on the stub shaft 122. The lever 124 is identical to the lever 126 and, therefore, a description of the manner in which the lever 124 is connected to the spring 110 and the arm 114 will suffice as a description of the manner in which the lever 126 is connected to the spring Y112 and to the arm 116.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the lever 124 is pivotally mounted about the lower portion of the stub shaft 120, as indicated by the reference number 130, and that a bracket 132, which is rigidly attached to the lever 124 by means such as rivets 134, is pivotally mounted about the upper portion of the stub shaft 120 as indicated by the reference number 136. The spring 110 comprises a first set of coils 138 and a second set of coils 140, the coils 138 and 140 being disposed about the shaft 120. The lowermost coil 138 is connected to the lever 124 by means such as the screw 142 and the uppermost coil 140 is connected to the bracket 132 by means such as the screw 144. The uppermost coil 140 and the lowermost coil 138 terminate in tangentially extending spring arms which are joined together to provide a double spring arm 146 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The spring 112 is identical to the spring 110 and the upper and lower sets of coils of the spring 112 are joined to provide a tangentially extending spring arm 148.

A flexible strand 150, which preferably is a very strong, twisted steel wire cable, connects the distal ends of the spring arms 146 and 148 to the flange portion 44 of the slide element 42, the strand 150 being connected to the spring arm 146 as indicated at 152 and to the spring arm 148 as indicated at 154 and penetrating a perforation through, or being otherwise permanently connected to, said flange portion 44. When the springs 110 and 112 are relaxed, i.e., when the slide element 42. is not in its cocked position at the rear end of the tube 24, the spring arms 146 and 148 and the strand 150 may assume substantially the positions indicated by the dashedline drawings of the spring arms and strand in FIG. 2.

A pair of hooks 156 and 158 are rigidly attached to the frame 12, the hook 156 being provided releasably to latch the rear end 160 of the lever 124 and the hook 158 being provided releasably to latch the rear end 162 of the lever 126.

When the levers 124 and 126 are released from the hooks 156 and 158, respectively, and are free to swing outwardly from the frame 12, as shown in FIG. 3, the slide element 42 can easily be manually moved to its cocked position and held there by the trigger mechanism previously described. When the slide element 42 is latched in its cocked position, and the levers 124 and 126 are pivoted inwardly toward the frame 12 and latched by the hooks 156 and 158, respectively, torsional energy is stored in the springs 110 and 112. When the slide element 42 is thereafter released, the stored energy will drive the slide element rapidly toward the forward end of the tube 24.

Preferably, handgrips 164 are provided on the levers 124 and 126 so that the levers may be operated more easily. It will be noted that the levers 124 and 126 may be operated independently. That is, when the slide element 42 is placed in its cocked position, the operator may operate the lever 124 to store energy in the spring 110 and then operate the lever 126, moving the lever 126 in the direction of the arrow 166 in FIG. 3, to store energy in the spring 112. This feature is very advantageous because if the springs 110 and 112 are made quite strong, it will take a considerable amount of strength to operate each of the levers.

It will be apparent, from the above description, that the weapon is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed, torsional springs 110 and 112, which springs may be loaded independently to prepare the weapon for firing.

It will be noted that torsional energy is stored in a torsion spring when a lateral force is exerted on one end of the spring, tending to turn the end about its longitudinal axis, while the other end of the spring is held fast or turned in the opposite direction. Thus, a variety of types of torsional springs may be utilized with the weapon 10'.

The tube 24 is preferably provided with an opening 168 in its top, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening 168 being large enough to receive the slug 48. Although the opening 168 is illustrated as being circular, it is apparent that the opening 168 may be made rectangular to receive a cylindrically shaped slug. In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 3, the slot 26 is merely enlarged to provide the opening 168.

In operation of the weapon 10, the slide element 42 is manually pulled rearwardly of the opening 168 to permit the insertion of the slug 48 through the opening 168 into the tube 24, and the lever 66 and trigger 88 are manipulated to latch the element 42 and the slug 48 against forward movement.

The weapon 10 may be used under water as a spear gun. In such a case, a conventional spear is inserted in the tube 24 from the forward end of the tube. When the trigger mechanism is operated, the slide element 42 will engage the rear end of the spear to hurl the spear from the weapon.

I claim as my invention:

1. A missile-firing weapon comprising an elongated frame, guide means carried by said frame and arranged to support a missile for movement therealong, a pair of torsional springs carried by said frame, each of said springs having a first arm and a second arm, flexible means connected between said first spring arms, means for releasably latching said flexible means in a cocked position and in driving relation with said missile near the rear end of said guide means, said flexible means being arranged, when released from said cocked position, to drive said missile along said guide means, a pair of levers, fulcrum means separate from said springs, secured to said frame, laterally oppositely spaced from said guide means and providing separate fulcrum mountings for said respective levers, one of said levers being connected, at a point spaced from its fulcrum mounting, to the second arm of one of said springs and the other of said levers being connected, at a point spaced from its fulcrum mounting, to the second arm of the other of said springs, each of said levers being swingable about its fulcrum axis to load its associated spring, and means releasably latching said levers in such spring-loading positions.

2. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 1 wherein said guide means is a cylindrically-shaped tube having a longitudinally extending slot formed therein, said slot having an enlarged portion near the rear end of said tube for introduction of a slug-type missile into guided position in said tube, and wherein said weapon further comprises a slider arranged for movement in said tube, said flexible means being connected to said slider, said slider being arranged to engage and drive said slug-type missile out of said tube, and wherein said means for releasably latching said flexible means comprises means for releasably latching said slug-type missile and said slider.

3. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 2 further comprising means for supporting an arrow-type missile above said tube, one vane of said arrow-type missile being received in said slot, said slot being continuous to and through the forwardmost end of said tube, said slider having a flange portion slidably penetrating said slot, and said flange portion being proportioned and arranged drivingly to engage the rear end of said arrow-type missile.

4. A missile-firing weapon comprising an elongated frame, guide means carried by said frame, slide means arranged to move along said guide means from a cocked position near the rear end of said guide means, said slide means being proportioned and arranged to engage and drive a missile in the direction of said guide means, means for releasably latching said slide means in said cocked position, a pair of torsion springs carried by said frame, one of said springs being disposed on one side of said frame and the other of said springs being disposed on the opposite side of said frame, a spring arm connected to the first end of each of said springs, flexible strand means connecting said spring arms to said slide means, a pair of levers, fulcrum means separate from said springs, secured to said frame, laterally oppositely spaced from said guide means and providing separate fulcrum mountings for said respective levers, said levers being mounted on said respective fulcrum mountings for movement between oppositely laterally-outwardly extending positions and positions substantially paralleling said frame, one of said levers being connected, at a point spaced from its fulcrum mounting, to the second end of one of said springs and the other of said levers being connected, at a point spaced from its fulcrum mounting, to the second end of the other of said springs to load said springs as said levers are moved toward said frameparalleling positions, and means for releasably latching said levers in said frame-paralleling positions.

5. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 4 wherein said guide means is a tube adapted to receive a slug ahead of said slide means and wherein said means for releasably latching said slide means comprises means for releasably latching said slug-type missile in its position forwardly of said slide means.

6. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 4 wherein said guide means is a cylindrically shaped tube having a longitudinally extending slot, wherein said slide means is a slider received in said tube, said slider having a flange portion which slidably penetrates said slot, and wherein said flexible strand means is connected to said flange portion, said weapon further comprising means carried by said frame for supporting an arrow-type missile for movement in the direction of said guide means, said supporting means being arranged so that said arrow-type missile is held directly above said tube and parallel therewith, and said fiange portion being arranged drivingly to engage the rear end of said arrow-type missile.

7. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 6 wherein one vane of said arrow-type missile extends through said slot into said tube, said slot being continuous to and through the forward end of said tube.

8. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 6 wherein said slot opens through the forward end of said tube and has an enlarged portion at its rear end for introduction of a slug-type missile into guided position in said tube, said slug-type missile being carried forward of said slider when said slider is in said cocked position so that, when said slider is released, said slug-type missile and said arrowtype missile are driven forwardly by said slider.

9. A missile-firing weapon as in claim 6 wherein said slot opens through the forward end of said tube, said weapon further comprising means provided at the forward end of said frame for restraining said arrow-type missile against lateral movement relative to said frame, said restraining means comprising a member having a U-shaped portion arranged to receive and frictionally engage the forward end portion of said arrow-type missile, said memher being pivotally connected to said frame so that, when said arrow-type missile moves forward, said member pivots downwardly to release said missile.

10. A weapon comprising a rectilinear guide, a slider reciprocably guided by said guide, two arms supported, respectively, at points oppositely laterally spaced from said guide at a location intermediate the ends of said guide and movable about said points between a first position extending from said points toward said guide and a second position extending forwardly from said points, a torsion spring operatively connected to each of said arms, flexible means connecting the distal ends of said arms with said slider, means for releasably latching said slider in a position adjacent the rearward end of said guide, thereby tethering said arms in said first position, and lever means providing a mechanical advantage significantly greater than that provided by said first-named arms, said lever means being connected to said springs and being operableafter said slider is so latched to store energy in said springs to bias said arms toward said second position.

11. The weapon of claim 1 in which each of said springs is a double torsion spring comprising two coaxial coils, said first arm of each spring including the adjacent ends of the two coils thereof and said second arm of each spring including the remote ends of the two coils thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 320,643 6/1885 Engle 124-26 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

